They can't hide behind their finger anymore. They need to acknowledge what's going on in the army, otherwise everyone is going to desert soon.
There's estimates that desertions in the Ukrainian army are 6 times the reported numbers (because commanders reporting deserters makes the commanders liable). In November alone there were 20 000 reported cases of desertion, which means that actually up to 120 000 people had deserted.
In various interviews deserters explain that the biggest reason they've deserted is being mobilized, fighting for months/years with no leave, those who can afford it are bribing their way out of frontline duty, mismanagement and abandonment by all command levels, and most importantly, how easy it is to actually desert without being caught.
So now that the kettle is boiling, it finally dawned on the Ukrainian leadership that they need to be seen that they are addressing the grievances of deserters while simultaneously cracking down on desertion.
i have heard on the radio war nerd podcast that there is some frustration between the nationalist faction and liberal populace in ukraine over the liberal's refusal to address reality that the situation is more dire than what the state media is making out to be.
which is kind of amusing to imagine.
The frustration exists, but it has existed for over a year now. There's movements to presentn Zaluzhny and others as the replacements of Zelensky. But the nationalist/neonazi factions have been getting weaker and weaker as their militias have been ground to pulp by Russian FABs and bullets.
same, a clear indication that desertions are becoming so bad that it's impossible to hide now
There's a joke to be made about the French in ww2 lasted 6 weeks before folding to the nazis so troops trained by Denmark would probably desert before they even got into uniform but I'm not in a clever enough mood to make it funny.
